Form of Government Chapter 17

Moderators

It is equally necessary in the courts of the Church, as in other assemblies, that there should be a moderator; that the business may be conducted with order and dispatch.

The moderator is to be considered as possessing, by delegation from the whole body, all authority necessary for the preservation of order; for convening and adjourning the court; and directing its operations according to the rules of the Church. If the court be equally divided on any question he shall possess the casting vote. If he be not willing to decide, he shall put the question a second time; and if the court be again equally divided, and he decline to give his vote, the question shall be lost.

The moderator of the presbytery shall be chosen from year to year, or for some shorter term, if the presbytery may think best. The moderator of the General Synod shall be chosen at each meeting of that court: and the moderator of the preceding Synod, or, in the case of his absence, another member appointed for the purpose, shall open the next meeting with a sermon, and shall hold the chair until a new moderator be chosen.